Beam was raised outside Columbia, South Carolina, United States where his father worked in land management and his mother was a schoolteacher. He graduated from Virginia Commonwealth University with a bachelor's degree and the Florida State University Film School with an MFA degree. Until the first Iron & Wine album, Beam's main source of income was as a professor of film and cinematography at the University of Miami and Miami International University of Art & Design. He had been writing songs for over seven years before a friend lent him a four-track recorder. His friends handed out copies of demos that he had made, and the owner of Sub Pop Records personally contacted Beam and proposed a deal.
Beam released his first album, The Creek Drank the Cradle, on the Sub Pop label in 2002; Beam wrote, performed, recorded, and produced every track on the album by himself at a studio in his home. The album features acoustic guitars, banjo, and slide guitar; its music has been compared, variously, to that of Nick Drake, Simon and Garfunkel, Neil Young, Elliott Smith, and Ralph Stanley.
In 2003 The Sea & The Rhythm was released, an EP collecting other home-recorded tracks along the same lines as those on the debut. Beam's second album, Our Endless Numbered Days (2004), was recorded in a professional studio with a significant increase in fidelity. The focus still lies on acoustic material, but the inclusion of other band members gives rise to a very different sound.
Beam released an EP titled Woman King in February 2005, and the EP In the Reins, a collaboration with Calexico was released in September 2005. This joint work mostly features new full-band versions of previously recorded Iron and Wine rarities.
One of his most famous songs is a cover, which was featured on a commercial for M&M’s candies and in the 2004 film “Garden State” (and on its popular soundtrack), of "Such Great Heights" by The Postal Service.
"Kiss Each Other Clean" is the fourth studio album by Iron & Wine, released January 25, 2011. The album's title is taken from the lyrics of track 10, "Your Fake Name Is Good Enough for Me". The album marks a further change in style – in an interview with SPIN magazine, Beam said “It’s more of a focused pop record. It sounds like the music people heard in their parent’s car growing up… that early-to-mid-’70s FM, radio-friendly music."
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Muddy Hymnal
Iron & Wine Lyrics
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Carved in cursive with a table fork
Muddy hymnals and some boot marks where you'd been
The shaking preacher told the captain's man
The righteous suffer in a fallen land
And pulled the shade to keep the crowd from peeking in
With wooden buttons and an apple core
Playing house and telling everyone you'd drowned
The begging choir told the captain's man
We all assume the worst the best we can
And for a round or two, they'd gladly track you down
We found you sleeping by your lover's stone
A ream of paper and a telephone
A broken bow across a long lost violin
Your lover's angel told the captain's man
It never ends the way we had it planned
And kissed her palm and placed it on your dreaming head
The lyrics to Iron & Wine's song Muddy Hymnal depict a haunting story of someone who has been lost or presumed dead. The first verse establishes the discovery of the person's name carved in cursive on the chapel door with a table fork, indicating some sort of desperation or urgency. The mention of muddy hymnals and boot marks suggests a religious gathering or event that the person may have attended before their disappearance. The shaking preacher tells the captain's man that the righteous suffer in a fallen land, alluding to a sense of hopelessness or despair that may have contributed to the person's absence. The shade is pulled to keep the crowd from peeking in, perhaps indicating a desire for privacy or a sense of guilt.
The second verse describes the discovery of the person's children, playing by the tavern door, with wooden buttons and an apple core. The children are telling everyone that their parent has drowned, suggesting that they may have been witness to the person's disappearance or have been told this as a way to cope with their absence. The begging choir tells the captain's man that they assume the worst, but for a round or two, they'd gladly track the person down. This suggests that while there may be a sense of mourning or sadness, there is also a desire to find the person and potentially help them.
The final verse depicts the discovery of the person sleeping by their lover's stone, with a ream of paper and a telephone nearby. The broken bow across a long lost violin suggests a sense of loss or nostalgia. The lover's angel tells the captain's man that things never end the way we plan, and kisses her palm before placing it on the person's head. This moment is poignant and intimate, suggesting that the person may have been loved deeply and missed greatly.
Overall, the lyrics to Muddy Hymnal paint a vivid picture of a community coming to terms with the loss of someone they cared about deeply. While there is a sense of sadness and heartache, there is also a desire to find the person or potentially help them, and ultimately a sense of acceptance that things never turn out as planned.
Line by Line Meaning
We found your name across the chapel door
We discovered your name carved in cursive with a table fork on the chapel door
Muddy hymnals
Dirty religious songbooks
And some boot marks where you'd been
There were some footprints left behind of your movement
The shaking preacher told the captain's man
Anxious priest speaks to the ship captain's man
The righteous suffer in a fallen land
Righteous people undergo suffering in a corrupt society
And pulled the shade
Pulled down the window blinds
To keep the crowd from peeking in
To prevent people from looking inside
We found your children by the tavern door
We located your kids next to the pub entrance
With wooden buttons and an apple core
Acting as though wooden buttons and an apple core are toys
Playing house
Role-playing as a family
And telling everyone you'd drowned
Informing anyone who would listen that you didn't survive
The begging choir told the captain's man
The choir beseeched the ship captain's man
We all assume the worst the best we can
We presume the worst possible outcome at all times
And for a round or two
And for a few drinks
They'd gladly track you down
They would delight in finding you
We found you sleeping by your lover's stone
We located you snoozing adjacent to your lover's tombstone
A ream of paper and a telephone
A stack of paper and a landline phone
A broken bow
A snapped violin bow
Across a long lost violin
Over an instrument that's been missing for a long time
Your lover's angel told the captain's man
Your deceased significant other's heavenly messenger conversed with the ship captain's man
It never ends the way we had it planned
Things never turn out as we intended
And kissed her palm
Planted a kiss on her hand
And placed it on your dreaming head
And put the kissed hand on your slumbering mind
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Samuel Ervin Beam
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@wrencormier513
this is honestly one of the best songs ever written, musically and lyrically
@user-dm8kz8ul8h
the 1 dislike is the captains man
@sera_sarzad
I think it's supposed to be "captain's men"?
What follows it in the second stanza is " they gladly tracked you down"
Not sure though
@karolwithaz
This song is hauntingly beautiful
@benjamink1403
There needs to be more stuff like this in the world
@mindbodydisconnect4082
This album is enough for my world :)
@sera_sarzad
Your lover's angel told the Captain's men
"It never ends the way we had it planned"
And kissed her palm and placed it on your dreaming head
@nuriyeuzumcu3030
💚💛💜💙💖💖💖
@rileyarnason2938
Pub Sop D,:
@pancho1095
pup sob